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Repeat Rant

I’m not sure how many times I’m going to wind up blogging about the same thing, but in the nearly 10 years that I’ve been blogging (albeit not consistently for the last 4 or so), I know that I’ve said this same thing repeatedly.

Being a feminist does not mean that you wear camouflage, have a butch haircut, and think that your goal in life is to take down the man and rise womanhood to a state of goddess-hood.

Here’s the reason for this coming back up again. Very recently, a young and up-and-coming actress has made a statement that she is not a feminist. This is Shailene Woodley, a young woman who I have very much admired thus far for her stances on Hollywood culture and how she doesn’t buy into all. How she red carpets with minimal makeup and does photo shoots with no makeup. Who talks about being a REAL girl in a FAKE world. And then…. and then this quote that just shatters my very feminist heart.

She was asked if she was a feminist and this was her response, “No because I love men, and I think the idea of ‘raise women to power, take the men away from the power’ is never going to work out because you need balance.”

Do you hear that sound? That sound of the crack rippling through my heart?

You can love men and still be a feminist. You can be a feminist and not want to take away power from men – all that you ask is that women have access to that same power.

All feminism means is that the world should be level playing field for both men and women. A man and a woman doing the same job at the same level should be paid the same, but this does not happen. A man and a woman both running for the same political office should be given equal voice and equal opportunity, but this does not happen. People should not blame a rape victim and excuse the rapist regardless of which party is the male and which is the female.

If you TRULY don’t believe in feminism, or don’t want to be a feminist – I probably won’t get along with you, but fine. You are perfectly entitled to your opinion. But at least know the definition of what you’re talking about.

Shailene. Based on what you’ve said in so many other interviews, you ARE a feminist. EMBRACE IT.